We’ve just returned home after a couple of days holed up in soon-to-be great-granny’s apartment downtown, waiting out a blizzard.

With labour imminent and the city a 40-minute drive from home, we decided it was best to be close to the hospital in case baby started when the roads were bad. The sun is shining now and all is clear, and nothing new to report other than the usual prancing and dancing from below.

What a rush that will be when it starts.

It’s such an interesting prospect to think about, since there are many hundreds of ways it could go. Will it start with a big splash on my shoes like in the movies? Not likely, I’m told. Maybe it will be just a vague kind of indigestion. Or maybe I’ll wake up in the middle of the night and be right in the thick of it.

The way I’m feeling right now, I’d swear this kid is trying to squiggle his way out by sheer force of personality.

With only one pair of pants and one very, very tired sweater left that (barely) fits, I’m starting to relish the idea of having my body back. I can’t even remember what it felt like to not have a passenger.

Top Pregnancy Necessities I Couldn’t Get Enough Of

• Body Shop Cocoa Butter Stick. Since about six weeks along, I’ve basted myself like a christmas goose morning, noon and night.
• Burt’s Bees Apricot Oil. Recently discovered. Was given a bottle for the baby. It’s half gone already. A little extra basting for the home stretch.
• Oatmeal. Only the really good stuff… Irish, Scottish, speerville mills. With peaches. With dates. With dried pears. With nothing. Baby likes a brick in his belly to start the day. Who am I to argue?
• Yoga. Total, complete heaven.

Top Things I’ll Get More of Next Time

• Yoga. Why do it two or three times a week when you can do it every day?
• Water. Never enough.
• Sleep. Never enough.
• Pictures. I started out determined to record the pregnancy, but didn’t take many pictures at all.
• End-of-pregnancy-friendly maternity clothes. Because as tempting as it is, you can’t go outside in nothing but slippers.